Fire-escape



L. KOCJA'N.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1921.

' 1,397,640. Patented Nov 22, 1921.

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L. KOCJAN.

' FIRE ESCAPE. APPLICATION F ILED MAY 16, 1921. 1 ,397 ,640, PatentedNOV. 22, 1921.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.LOUIS-KOCJAN, ,OF CALUMET, MTGHIG-AIT.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Application filed May 16,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS KooJAN, a citizen of Jugo-Slavia, residing atCalumet, in the county of Houghton and State of Michigan have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in fireescapes of that type'enibodying a car with means for mounting the samefor vertical movement upon the outside of a dwelling in line with thesuperposed windows provided on the successive floors or stories of thedwelling.

The primary object of the invention is to cooperatively construct thecar and its guiding and mounting means in a novel manner so that the carwill be effectively guided in its vertical movements and whereby travelis combined with simplicity for enabling the device to meet therequirements for a successful commercial use.

With the above general objects in View and others that will appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists ofthe novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters designatecorresponding 'parts throughout the several views,

Figure l is a fragmentary front elevational view of a dwelling equippedwith a fire escape constructed in accordance with the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line III-III of Fig. 6,

Fig. 4: is a similar view taken upon line IV-IV of Fig. 6,

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken upon line VV of Fig. a, and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken upon line VI-VI of Fig. 3.

Referring more in detail to the several views, the present inventionembodies a fire escape including a car 5 mounted, as will presentlybecome apparent, for vertical movement at the outside of a dwelling 6 sothat a person may enter said car from any one of the superposed windows7 provided in the several stories of said dwelling, when said car islocated opposite said window. The car 5 preferably embodies a roofSpecification of Letters Patent.

is occupied if such be the case when said car is in an elevatedcondition.

-At opposite sides of the windows 7 are mounted pairs of guide rails 9,the ends of which are inturned and fastened to the wall. of the dwellingas at 10 in any preferred manner. The outside rail of each pair slidablyextends through one of the corner posts 8 of the car, while the otherrod of each pair extends slidably through the roof and floor of said caradjacent to one of said posts. Thus, one guide rail or rod 9 is ex posedat each side of the car for being gripped by an occupant so as toprevent too rapid descent of the car when overloaded.

The car 5 is counterbalanced so as to normally be held in an elevatedposition by means of a flexible member 11 which is Patented N a2, 1921,

attached atone end to the roof of the car and which passes upwardlytherefrom and inwardly and arounda guide pulley 12 which is suitablyjournaled in a bracket 13 fixed to the wall of the dwellingsubstantially midway between the pairs of guide rails 9. The flexiblemember 11 extends down wardly to a point adjacent the ground and hasweights l4: suspended therefrom which are slightly heavier than the car5.

By rigidly connecting the roof and floor of the car by corner posts ofhollow form and utilizing these posts as guides through which a guiderail slidably extends at each side of the car, a durable construction isprovided wherein ordinary strains will be eflectively taken care of.

In operation, and in case of a fire, a person may step into the car 5from a window 7 if said car is opposite the same, while if the same isrequired to be lowered this may be effected by pullingupwardly upon theflexiblemember 11. Upon steppinginto the car the inner rail of eitherpair or the flexible member 11 may be grasped so as to prevent prematuredownward movement of the car and to prevent too rapid descent of thelatteigthe weight of the person being sufficient to overcome the Weights14 for insur Cir ing lowering of the person to the ground by gravity. Assoon as the person reaches the round, he or she simply lifts upwardly ont e flexible member '11 so as to prevent the weights 14 from returningthe car to elevated osition before complete exit of the person rorn thecar. The flexible member 11 is then released and the weights immediately return the car to elevated position.

'From the foregoin description it is believed the construction andoperation as well as the advantages of the present invention will bereadily understood and appreciate by those skilled in the art.

What is claimed as new is A fire escape including guide rails adaptedtobe mounted in a vertical position at opposite sides of superposedwindows of a dwelling, a car including roof and floor members rigidlyconnected by means includ ing corner posts havingv said guide railsslidably extending therethrough, further guide rails at opposite sidesof the windows inwardly of the first named guide rails and slidablyextending through the roof and floor members of the car with theportions of being inclosed by a foraminous wall and the corner posts andguide rails being located at the front of the car adjacent the dwelling,the space between the corner posts being open, counterbalancing meansfor said car to normally hold the latter in an elevated position, saidcounterbalancing means including a flexible-member weighted at one endand having its other end attached to the roof of the car substantiallycentrally between the sides of the latter, and a pulley over which saidflexible member passes, said pulley being adapted to be mounted upon thewall of the dwelling substantially midway between said guide rails. V

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LOUIS KOGJAN.

